In order to gain access to an unlicensed mobile access (UMA) network (UMAN), a UMA subscriber has to be authenticated. For instance, the subscriber may be required to have a UMA subscription. Also, the subscriber has to access UMA through a valid access point and the access point has to be located within a valid Public Land Mobile Access Network (PLMN).
While the UMA/3GPP specification provides a method to enable basic authentication for UMA subscribers to the service, mobile network operators typically require finer grain control over the access that their customers have to the network, providing an opportunity for the operator to differentiate the services offered over the UMA interface. A typical example might be that of restricting a subscriber to a single WLAN zone or allowing the subscriber to register from a hotspot as well. Therefore, there is a need in the art for a system to authenticate and authorize a UMA subscriber for having access to the UMAN.
Some embodiments provide a method of performing discovery transactions for the UMAN. The method sends a discovery request message from the MS to the UNC. The method also sends a set of attributes from the UNC to an authentication server. The method further authenticates the discovery request by the authentication server by utilizing information in a set of databases. The method sends the result of the authentication from the authentication server to the UNC.
Some embodiments provide a method of performing discovery transactions for the UMAN. The method sends a discovery request message from the MS to the UNC. The method also sends a set of attributes from the UNC to an authentication server. The method further authenticates the discovery request by the authentication server by utilizing information in a set of databases. The method sends the result of the authentication from the authentication server to the UNC.